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Rustic Leaves- Gather these items from your yard or from a woodland walk. Here we've used a stem of oak leaves, dried fern fronds, wheat, and a knot of raffia.
Silk Flowers - Buy silk flower stems. White flowers add a snowy touch to a tree while red flowers add lots of pretty color. If the stems are large they can be cut up with wire cutters into smaller sprigs. To each silk flower sprig add sparkle with glittered twigs, tiny glass ornaments on wires, or a floral pick of silver or gold berries. Secure with a few twists of wire and decorate with a bow that matches the flowers.
 Bird Nests - Here we've used a base of sturdy twigs and a sprig or two of preserved cedar. On top we've hot glued moss and a tiny bird. Finally, some pepperberries were glued on for a bit of added color and texture. Keep these from year to year, stored carefully in a box between layers of tissue. Set bird nests on open branches in any "holes" in your tree.
Glittering Twigs - Purchase painted and glittered twigs from a craft or floral supply store. Cut them up into sections 8 to 12" long. Top each twig with a small branch of sparkling dried flowers and a small branch of silver silk leaves. Secure with floral wire and/or tie with a shiny metallic ribbon.
Glass Ornaments - Craft and floral stores will have a good selection of holiday ornaments that come attached to floral wires. Gather an odd number of these balls into groupings. Surround with some artificial leaves, sparkling twigs, or a sprig of shiny berries. Wire all together and add a ribbon for more color and to hide the wires.
Twig Wreaths - Craft stores offer twig wreaths and twig bird nests in lots of tiny sizes. Pick up a couple of dozen in your favorites sizes. Use a glue gun to attach preserved cedar, wheat, leaves, berries, artificial birds, and ribbons. Hang on the tree or lay on open branches for a rustic, natural look.
Flags - Show your patriotism by using small flags or flag themed ribbon to make nosegays. Decorate each with shiny red, white, and blue-wired garland or glass balls.
- Use colorful ribbons to make small bows and attach to your tree with wire.
- Save any small jewelry size boxes and gift-wrap them. Add bows and add to tree with wire.
- Plush toys or beanie babies make great tree decorations. If you're a beanie baby collector show off your collection by decorating your Christmas tree in beanie baby them.
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Decorate your Christmas tree in a candy theme. Use lots of candy canes, small clear bags of jellybeans or other colorful candies tied up with ribbons.
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Snowflake tree - cut out paper snowflakes to hang on your tree. Add glitter or spray paint for a more formal look.
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Try drying apple and orange slices and stringing them together for a country style garland or wreath.
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Collect pinecones and walnuts spray paint them gold and glue them in bunches for your tree or centerpiece.
I decorated our tree this year very simple, but it turned out beautiful. I used plain white lights and then made bows from silver, white and blue 2" thick ribbon. I made a large bow that incorporated all three types of ribbon for the tree topper. I made small and medium sized bows to place all around the tree. The tree skirt is blue and white fabric that I purchased and a sewed lace trim around it. - Allison 12/15/2003
Clear Ornaments
I like to get clear Xmas balls, and have the family members to decorate one for each of the other members of the family. They are put in the stocking as a stuffer. Also, we have extras for drop in guests.- Bernadette 12/15/2003
Fragrant Clove Tree
This may not be a glamorous decoration, but it can certainly involve the family. Peel an apple and allow it to shrivel on the counter. Once the apple is dried, like dried fruit that you would buy in the store, gather the family around. Lay out items that will allow the family to turn this dry fruit into a character of their choosing. Cloves for eyes, orange peel strips for hair, cinnamon for noses etc. Allow the children to let their imaginations run wild. Once the dried apple has been transformed into a head of a character hand it from the tree. Not only is it handmade, it is also fragrant. - Charissa 12/15/2003
Balls for everyone
My daughter and I a few years ago made a special Christmas ornaments for everyone in our family. It's a frosted ball with their name and decorated in paint. As we place them on the tree we think of all the good times we have had with that person. It's especially nice to remember those that are no longer with us.- Alda 12/14/2003
Beaded Christmas Tree garlands-The EASY way!
The goal..to have lovely, looped beads gracefully hanging from branch to branch around your tree..without too much hair-pulling! Buy those 15ft pearl, gold or silver bead garlands. Cut them into desired lengths to make one, 3 strand loop. I used 22", 25" and 28" lengths but you may choose any lengths; depends on the effect you want. Using a glue gun or thread connect the ends making sure the shortest length is at the top and longest at the bottom. Add one of those hangers for ornaments at each end. It is quite impressive you use the same branch to hang the end of one 3-strand loop and begin another. They're easy to hang and store. Just hook the hangers on opposite sides of a box and voila, they're ready for next year! These 3 strand loops are so much easier to hang so you get that lovely, looped look and the effect is quite spectacular.- Linda 12/14/2003
Frosty the tree-man
We spray the tree with white paint. Make a black felt hat. Use brightly colored fleece for the 12-15ft scarf. Paint a cone shaped styrofoam orange for the carrot. Use blue ornaments for the eyes and we GooP together 7 red ornaments for the smile. I spray 3 ornaments black for the buttons. We have photos of a finished on if anyone would like to see how cool it looks.- Sonya 12/12/2003
Beautiful Beaded Christmas Tree
Get some beads any kinds; of all different colors,string them on yarn.It will be a setting as like the colors on lights.Small cotton balls in the branches,will be like snow.A Christmas present bow ,for the star on top of the tree.- Christy 12/10/2003
Decorating with Heart
My tree isnt spectacular, it wouldnt win any awards. all of my ornaments have to do with family memories. many were passed down to me from my grandma, and most were made by members of my family as children. My dad,his brother and sister, me, my sisters, and my children. many tears are shed as we unwrap the ornaments each year and memories come back. so my tip would be concentrate not on the eye but on the heart when decorating your tree- Linda 12/08/2003
My Blue Christmas
I've always loved the single-color themed trees. One year we had a small tree with red lights, pearl-white garland and handmade ornaments (mother-in-law made them). They were cinnamon cutouts tied with red ribbons and small angels made of pasta. The next year was a teal tree with teal and clear lights, white snowflakes and assorted clear glass ornaments. This year, I'm having a Blue Christmas. Blue lights accent a collection of pearl glittered snowlakes and blue glass balls. The tree topper is a large bow of pearl, blue and silver ribbon with streamers hanging down and complimented by silver/pearl bows tied to several branches. It's simple, but elegant and I just love the way the blue lights add a special look to the room at night.- Samantha 12/07/2003
Noah's Ark
I have been collecting pairs of small animals for a few years now. My 2 girls have added to my collection for birthdays ect. They often asked me why I needed 2 of each. This year their question was answered. I planned to have a Noahs Arch tree as a theam for the holidays. I Was very lucky to finally find a topper for it this year, a childs book shaped like Nohas Arch. I painted it cartoon like and added lights to it so it would light up, it even had a little stuffed Noha doll. I took time to add little red bows to the female animals and green to the males. I have both white and colour lights,silver tinsel for a little sparkle and the animals tighed together as a pair to make it easier to hang. When we have guests to our house there is no getting out of a conversation about the tree. My girls marval at my tree and with every set of animals that is hung we have a happy memory to go along with it, takes hours to hang them because we laugh and talk and have a great time, after all is'nt that what the holidays are all about?? - Debbie 12/04/2003
Christmas Tree Candy Cane Hangers
We hang small candy cane's with red ribbon bows on our tree along with our regular christmas bulb decorations. It gives the tree a homey touch. - Carol 12/04/2003
Lighting Your Christmas Tree
The best advice I was ever given to putting together the best christmas trees, whether real or everlasting, is be sure to put on enough lights. The rule of thumb for lighting the perfect tree (not to many or to few) is one hundred lights per foot of tree. Therefore a 6 foot tree needs 600 lights etc. I have lit both types of trees and find this works everytime. Also the old stand by rules are the best. A real tree should stand for 24 hours before adding the lights, this works wonders for an everlasting tree that has been packed away for the seasons as well. Then work with small strands of lights, nothing larger then a 50 light set, they become less tangled, less cumbersum and space more evenly. Also light the tree from within first, working your way out to the tips of the branches. Starting at the top of the tree instead of the bottom as we are prone to do makes the tree lighting spaced better, as its easier to add or subtract light at the bottom then the top. These are my secrets for the crowning feature on any tree in my mind The Lights! - Glenda 11/16/2003
Pink in December
You've guessed it - the them is Breast Cancer Awareness and Education : pink ribbons and pink baubles with mixture of silver or gold in between!! - Linda 11/17/2003
Family Tree
This year was my son's first birthday. I wanted to make some kind of memorable ornament for our Christmas tree for him. We have a rather large extended family and instead of making just one ornament, I decided to creat a collection of ornaments which would help my son to learn who all his relatives are. I purchased a small 2" tree to keep in his room and then I made simple ornaments out of craft foam sheets (gingerbread men, snowmen, elves, reindeer, etc.). Each character holds a sign with the name of a family member and their relationsip to my son (e.g. Grampa, Uncle Jimmy, etc.). Now my son has a fully decorated family tree and we can easily add any new family members as they join our clan.- Trixie 11/28/2003
Angel Tree and old fashioned Christmas House
My angel tree is a white tree with white lights decorated with lots of angel and crosses in gold, white & feathers. Then the tree is highlighted with gold bows, ribbons and white with gold speckled tuile. Below this tree is a Santa Christmas village with the reindeer barn, toy factory, candy cane factory, tyco factory, lots of elfs, reindeers and Santa's house and a small normal town back in the wooded area. This tree is my smaller tree on the main level, my sons each have a small tree in their rooms (2). Then I have a 13" raised, 8' tree in my living room that has 27 years of family ornaments coving every available inch. The tree rotates so that you can see every ornament. Some of the ornaments rotate or are animated as well. Below this tree is a 10' x 14' old fashioned village that is multileveled. It includes everything from a Santa land to a ski mountain and sledding hill, to a downtown area with a town square and it's own tree and merry-go-round. The village then turns into a residential area which has ahospital, car gas station, school and play ground and homes where the people live.The homes range from Victorian to those having a garage sale and of course the fiber optic lit house which represents our house on the block. There are wooded areas and lots of snow for the skiers and snowboarders. Our friends spend hours daydreaming about living in this village as they see the people getting ready for Christmas. My entire house is decorated, outside and every room inside. So its difficult to give it a theme name. Its just an old fashioned Christmas House! - Debra 11/29/2003
Christmas Tree
Every year once the tree is ready my husband and i help our daughter place the angel on the top. It has become a tradition and one that we plan to pass on to our grandchildren. Instead of the usual angel we have a porcelan doll dressed in golden fabric. Her long golden curls are circled by a christmas ribbon. In her hands she carries a seasonal basket filled with bright christmas beads. Scattered under the tree are other dolls dressed in costumes that represent different countries and nearby a victorian village indicating that christmas is for everyone young and old - Betty 11/29/2003
My Angel Tree
My favorite tree is the one I deck in angels-all sizes-I put large cream-coloured tree-top angels set back in the branches, with smaller gold-coloured angels on the outer branches. Accent with gold balls, gold beaded garland, crystal accents, gold & burgundy velvet ribbon & LOTS of clear white lights-a truly Victorian tree which everyone loves. (At last count there are 72 angels in total on mine!) I buy only angels that I love, & as I am removing them from their boxes to decorate I feel like I'm seeing an old friend again. - Carla 11/29/2003
Clay Aiken Double Platnium Tree!! WINNER (week one)
I love the singer Clay Aiken and I wanted to celebrate the double platinum status of his new cd, Measure of a Man. I took a bunch of blank cd's and made pictured ornaments with AVERY cd/dvd labels. The software is included in a package of twenty glossy or matte labels. There is no need to purchase 150.00 software. After printing the labels, just peel and stick on to the blank cd, and use a glue gun to attach ribbon on the opposite side of the cd. In addition, I also have blue/white lights, frosty blue/white ribbon, and silvery platinum looking poinsettias. - April 11/23/2003 |
